The present invention relates generally to the field of heating/ventilating the passenger compartment of vehicles.
Vehicle heating/ventilating devices comprise, in a conventional manner, means for providing a flow of cold, or chilled, air and warm air mixed in controllable proportions and introduced into the passenger compartment of a vehicle.
The incoming flow of air is distributed in the passenger compartment by a plurality of air distribution channels, the channels connected to various air diffusion louvres or inlets located at different positions, in particular near the feet, at mid-height and in the dashboard near the windscreen.
The airflow is forced into the passenger compartment by the speed of the vehicle and/or by means of a motor driven fan or xe2x80x9cpulserxe2x80x9d which produces an overpressure in the passenger compartment with respect to the pressure of the external environment.
Because of this overpressure, the air in the passenger compartment is evacuated towards the rear of the vehicle by means of vents called xe2x80x9cextractorsxe2x80x9d, usually located at the rear of the vehicle, in order to enable an even sweeping of the passenger compartment by the circulating flow of air.
However, this conventional configuration, even though allowing a satisfactory renewal of the air in the passenger compartment space, does not always result in optimal comfort or good control of air circulation because of the complex geometry of the passenger compartment i.e., dead are poorly swept by the flow of air and due to the screening effect caused by the seats).
Moreover, this configuration does not take into account differing needs for example, the requirement to optimize defrosting, to provide more passenger comfort, to increase the ventilation for some passengers and to reduce it for others, etc.
In addition, in particular from U.S. Pat. No. 5,261,855, a smoke removal device is known which makes it possible to draw off tobacco smoke before it mixes with the air contained in the passenger compartment. However, this device does not make it possible to favor the distribution and circulation of air in the passenger compartment.
The present invention aims to overcome these various difficulties by proposing an installation for heating and/or ventilating the passenger compartment of an vehicle simultaneously allowing:
a better control of the airflow, making possible control of the pathway of air between its entry into and exit from the passenger compartment,
optimization of comfort in each zone, with the possibility of selective regulation of the airflow in each of the zones of the compartment (driver, front passenger, rear passengers, windscreen), and
an increase in heat exchange and ventilation capacity: the airflow being limited to the zone where it is needed, losses are less and the size of the pulser can therefore be reduced, with a correlated reduction in cost, volume and noise level.
According to the present invention there is provided an installation for heating and/or ventilating the passenger compartment of a vehicle, comprising means for producing flows of cold, or chilled, air and of warm air, and a plurality of air distribution channels connected to a plurality of air diffusion inlets, with at least one air extractor designed to put the internal space of the passenger compartment in connection with the ambient outside air and to remove air from the passenger compartment as a result of the pressure difference between the compartment interior and the compartment exterior, and further comprising a plurality of air extraction channels connected to corresponding extraction vents distributed at different locations in the passenger compartment, and an apportioning means for selective control of the distribution of the extracted airflow between the various extraction channels to increase the distribution and circulation of air in at least one zone of the passenger compartment.
Thus embodiments of the present invention prevent some zones of the passenger compartment being little or poorly ventilated.
The apportioning means make it possible to selectively distribute the extracted airflow between the different extraction channels.
The apportioning means may advantageously comprise means for closing in a controlled and selective manner at least some of the extraction vents.
The extraction vents may, in particular, be located near the floor of the vehicle, or integrated into a seat of the vehicle, in particular in the upper part of the latter, or may be located at the top of the windscreen of the vehicle.
Preferably, the air extraction channels are connected to forced extraction means.